To return his fellow Elder of the Universe, the Collector, to life, the Grandmaster enters a cosmic wager with Death herself, using Earth heroes as their chess pieces! Heroes from around the world, including several never-before-seen, battle it out for nothing less than the fate of Earth itself in the Contest of Champions! Featuring every Earth hero, circa 1982! Then, Grandmaster causes more problems for the Avengers when he plans to wipe out all life in the universe, and he pits the Avengers of both coasts against each other to claim his prize! Starring 15 Avengers and special guest star, the Silver Surfer! Collects Contest of Champions #1-3, West Coast Avengers Annual #2, and Avengers Annual #16.

He hails from an unimaginable era: the 31st century. Fleeing through the timestream from the pursuing team of futuristic defenders known as the Guardians of the Galaxy, Korvac the Machine Man has established a secret presence on present-day Earth in the self-created persona of the mysterious Michael. Through such an unassuming guise, Korvac contemplates the elements of a universe he thirsts to command. Yet despite the subtlety of Michael's machinations, the world's greatest super-team - the mighty Avengers - catches wind of his cosmos-conquering scheme, thus drawing the two titanic forces into inevitable conflict. Collects Avengers (1963) #167-168, #170-177, extra story pages from 1991 Korvac Saga TPB.

Demon-gods, alien monsters and killer bees - it only goes to show that Angel, Iceman, Hercules, Black Widow and Ghost Rider did more before #17 than some teams get done by #50! The short-lived super-team squeezed multiple mayhem into mere months of masked marvelry! Featuring the Stranger and the Stilt-Man! Magneto and Modok! The world reign of Doctor Doom! The Sentinels and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants! Guest-starring Spider-Man and the Avengers! Plus: destined for the pages of Punisher War Journal... Rampage! Collects Champions #12-17, Iron Man Annual #4, Avengers #163, Super-Villain Team-Up #14 and Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #17-18.

"The darkness hideth not from thee...the night shineth as the day..." Detective Brigid O'Reilly wants to arrest them, Father Francis Delgado wants to reform them - but does anyone really understand them? A year after they debuted as anti-drug vigilantes in Spectacular Spider-Man, Cloak and Dagger's secrets were revealed in their own mini-series, collected here for the first time! See the duo's first meeting and transformation, their battles against criminals, and their struggles with themselves - as only two of the eighties' authorial and artistic experts could present them! Collects Cloak & Dagger #1-4.

A classic Marvel hero defined by one of comics' greatest visionaries! A Marvel Comics mainstay since 1964, Daredevil got a new lease on life in a landmark 1979-1983 run by writer-penciler Frank Miller and inker-penciler Klaus Janson, whose daring reinvention of the character quickly made Miller one of the biggest and most influential stars in the comic-book industry. Miller put his own stamp on established cast members such as reporter Ben Urich, femme fatale Black Widow, mad assassin Bullseye, the saw-fisted Gladiator, and monstrous crime boss Kingpin. Miller also introduced Daredevil's mysterious mentor Stick, deadly ninja foes the Hand, and Matt's long-lost love Elektra, a beautiful assassin who would become one of Marvel's most memorable characters. Mixing traditional super-heroics with mysterious martial artistry, doomed romance, and dark personal drama, Miller's character-defining DD run is collected across three titanic trade paperbacks! Collecting Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #27-28, and Daredevil #158-161 and #163-172.

Illusion's the order of the day with the misdeeds of Mindworm, Mysterio, and Mirage - but the Jackal's got something much more enduring in mind! Witness the birth of the Clone Saga! Spidey faces a lashing from the Lizard, a scrap with Scorpion and a tussle with the Tarantula - but can any menace match - the Spider-Mobile?

What do a Golden Age hero, a Western hero, and a romance heroine have in common? They all join the Avengers during one of the team's busier eras, presented here! Worlds, centuries, and genres clash as the Avengers battle Kang in the past and the Serpent Crown on the Earth next door! Then, when civil war grips both Atlantis and Latveria, which side must the Avengers take? If it's up to Doctor Doom, it'll be the evil they know, not the evil they don't! Plus: Graviton, the Grim Reaper, voodoo, mad science, and more! Featuring the Champions, the Squadron Supreme, and the Circus of Crime! Collects Avengers (1963) #141-163, Annual #6, and Super-Villain Team-Up #9.

Captain America and the Falcon, two unlikely partners, united in battle against threats domestic, extraterrestial, and extradimensional; evil psychiatrists, druids, and scientists; monsters, super villains, and armies; and all the while balancing their love lives with Sharon Carter and Leila Davis! Featuring the threats of the Druid, the Alchemoid, Deadly Nightshade and her robot assassin, Stilt-Man, Dr. Faustus, the Secret Empire, the Night-People, and Agron! Plus, the first appearance of Karla Sofen, the future Moonstone and Ms. Marvel! And the mysterious Mister Buda leads Cap on a tour of the world's wars! Collects Captain America (1968) #187-205, Annual #3, and Marvel Treasury Special: Captain America's Bicentennial Battles.

Get ready for another 500+ pages of non-stop non-team action! Essential Defenders vol. 2 collects 16 more issues of The Defenders, plus five crossover issues, four giant-size stories, and a Marvel Treasury featuring Howard the Duck. Beginning with a throwaway issue of Giant-Size Defenders 1 (which is mostly reprints anyway), the real Defenders arc starts in issue 15, with the now-settled lineup of Dr. Strange, Valkyrie (except when she's off in search of her identity), Nighthawk, and (usually) Hulk (Silver Surfer being completely gone and the Sub-Mariner almost completely). They face Magneto and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in their quest to create the ultimate mutant; the Wrecking Crew with the help of Luke Cage, Power Man; and the Sons of the Serpent in an all-out war that swells the non-team roster as never before.

Particularly welcome are the Giant-Size issues, which feature a meeting with the Son of Satan, a confrontation alongside Daredevil with the games-playing Grandmaster, a development in Nighthawk's personal life that leads to a meeting with Yellowjacket and then a faceoff with the Squadron Sinister, and a meeting with the super-cool Guardians of the Galaxy that brings the Defenders to the 30th century to free the human race from the clutches of the Badoon. This 1974-76 run of Defenders was mostly written by Len Wein and Steve Gerber, with the bulk of the pencils by Sal Buscema, and this edition, like all of Marvel's Essentials, is printed in black and white. --David Horiuchi

Our heroes battle alternate versions of themselves across the dimensions, fight alongside the Invaders and the Liberty Legion during World War II, and team up with multiple allies to aid in their adventures including Power Man, the Impossible Man, the Hulk, Thundra, and Tigra!

Luke Cage wraps up his early solo career against the likes of Zzzax, Chemistro and Gideon Mace - then launches a new era with Iron Fist, forming one of Marvel's oddest and most enduring partnerships! Garish gangsters, sexy scientists, monolithic mutants...no job was too big for Heroes for Hire! Guest-starring the X-Men and the Daughters of the Dragon! See some of the most startling super-villains of the seventies! Re-telling the origin of Power Man! Collects Power Man #28-49, Annual #1.

What's it like to be the son and the daughter of the Father of Lies? Find out as Daimon Hellstrom and his sister, Satana, face the worst of two worlds! Can they save their souls along with the world? Featuring Exorcists, Cyclists, Nihilists and Ice Demons! Secrets of Ancient Atlantis revealed! Guest-starring Spider-Man, the Thing and the Human Torch! Collects Ghost Rider #1-2; Marvel Spotlight #12-24; SoS #1-8; MTIO #14; MTU #32,80-81; Vampire Tales #2-3; HoH #2,4-5 and Marvel Premiere #27

A voodoo virtuoso. A devil-tainted demi-druid. A half-mad minister. A creature of the crypts, a man-mountain of marble, and a giddy giggling ghoul - these are the horrific heroes who protect the world from forces even more frightening than themselves!

The Man-Thing's Swamp, Murderworld, and the Moon are only a few battlefields on Spider-Man's agenda when he teams up with the X-Men, the entire original Avengers lineup, and more! Daredevil and the Black Widow! Power Man and Iron Fist! Captain America and the Falcon! Satana the Devil's Daughter and the Daughters of the Dragon! Captain Britain, Doctor Strange and Ms. Marvel! Opposed by such enemies as the Owl, the Super-Skrull, the Viper, and more miscreants who remain deadly to this day! Plus: Spider-favorites Electro and Kraven the Hunter! Also featuring Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and the first appearance of X-adversary extraordinaire, Arcade! Collects Marvel Team-Up #52-73, #75-78, and #80-81; and Annual #1-2.

The Thing can't stay out of trouble, but at least he makes friends wherever he goes! The Ever-Lovin' Idol o' Millions teams up with heroes both frontline and forgotten against menaces spanning time and space! Gods! Aliens! Spies! Demons! Dinosaurs! Time travellers! Martial artists! The Living Eraser and the Mountain That Walked Like a Man! A veritable who's who of history's horror heroes! Collects Marvel Feature #11-12; Marvel Two-In-One #1-20, 22-25 and Annual #1; Fantastic Four Annual #11; and Marvel Team-Up #47.

Debuting as both enemy and ally of the Werewolf by Night, Moon Knight's three personalities equaled one eerie adventure after another by Moench, Miller and more! Earning enemies like the brutal Bushman and the macabre Morpheus early in his career, Moon Knight also teamed up with Spider-Man, the Thing, and others against well-known and forgotten villains alike! Spun by Cyclone! Caught by Crossfire! Plus: an early fight with the Purple Man alongside Luke Cage! Featuring Topaz from Witches and the original White Tiger! Includes black-and-white stories not reprinted in more than two decades! Collects Werewolf By Night #32-33; Marvel Spotlight #28-29; Spectacular Spider-Man #22-23; Marvel Two-In-One #52; Hulk Magazine #11-15, 17-18, 20-21; Marvel Preview #21; Moon Knight #1-10.

In 1968, backed by popular demand, Marvel launched Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man - an all-new action series starring your friendly neighborhood wall-crawler! In these inaugural issues, never before reprinted in one volume, Spidey faces some of his most fearsome foes - including Tarantula, Kraven, Lightmaster, Vulture, Hitman, Morbius, Brother Power, Hate Monger, Beetle and the Enforcers! Guest-starring the Fantastic Four, Inhumans and Champions!

Augmenting Spider-Man's college years, this title features enemies old and new, recurring and rare, who line up to teach the web-slinger plenty - but will he become his own worst enemy as the sinister Spider-Lizard? It features robots, killer bees, living hallucinations and more. It also guest-stars the Human Torch and the White Tiger.

When the mob killed his family, Frank Castle went to war. But before he became the scourge of the underworld, the Punisher set his sights on a certain world-famous wall-crawler. For the first time ever, Marvel collects the vengeance-seeking vigilante's earliest appearances in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man, Captain America, Daredevil and more!

Not a hoax, not a dream, not an imaginary story... so what is it? Judge for yourself as the gamma-powered gargantua's long-lost black-and-white adventures are reprinted for the first time! Rarely seen moments of Hulk history featuring aliens, magic, horror and wonder - the full gamut for Marvel's great green giant! Guest-starring the Avengers, the X-Men and more! Collects Rampaging Hulk #1-9, The Hulk! #10-15 and Incredible Hulk #269.

Spider-Man is as amazing as ever against adversarial alumni like the Lizard and the Kingpin, as well as up-and-coming enemies such as Stegron and Jigsaw - with the lesser-known larcenies of the Big Wheel and the Spider-Squad to fill his spare time F

Jack Russell's struggles against his long-time curse pale before his determination to save his beloved sister from a similar doom! Vicious vigilantism, muscled madmen and intergalactic intrigue highlight the second volume of one of the seventies' strangest sagas! Fear, fate and family - Werewolf style! Guest-starring the Frankenstein Monster, Morbius and others from Marvel's Legion of Monsters! Collects Werewolf by Night #21-43, Giant-Size Werewolf #2-5, Marvel Premiere #28.

Marvel movie stars past and present unite in a series of senses-shattering slugfests for the ages! At the dawn of the Marvel Age, Spider-Man meets the Fantastic Four and battles the Chameleon! Also featuring a battle royal with the Frightful Four, the first appearance of the future New Mutant known as Karma, and more! When comics' first family and everybody's friendly neighborhood wall-crawler get together, chaos is sure to ensue! Collects Amazing Spider-Man #1; Spectacular Spider-Man #42; Fantastic Four #218; Marvel Team-Up #100, 132-133; and Untold Tales of Spider-Man '96.

The Spirit of Vengeance rides roughshod over Spider-Man, the Thing and the rest of the Marvel Universe! The Spider, the Ghost and the soul-stealer who hates them both - who will survive the Carnival of Fear? The Thing vs. the Ghost Rider in Death Race! Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, Morbius and Werewolf by Night - the Legion of Monsters - join forces for the most spine-tingling team-up of all in the mysterious Marvel manner! Hawkeye, the Two-Gun Kid and the Ghost Rider take on the menacing might of the Manticore! Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers, embark on their most dangerous mission yet: capture the Ghost Rider! Plus: the Ghost Rider's strangest adventure ever - featuring the Night Rider, Marvel's first Ghost Rider! Collects Marvel Team-Up #91, Marvel Two-in-One #80, Marvel Premiere #28, Avengers #214 and Ghost Rider #27 & #50.

Before World War Hulk, before Planet Hulk, the Green Goliath spent years fighting the finest the Marvel Universe has to offer! Hulk vs. the Thing! Hulk vs. Thor! Hulk vs. the Silver Surfer, Wolverine and more! Whether facing a tag-team match from the Fantastic Four and the Avengers or going one-and-one against Spider-Man and Daredevil, the Incredible Hulk's the strongest one there is no matter who his opponents are! Also featuring the X-Men, S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fin Fang Foom! Collecting Fantastic Four issues #25 and 26, Journey into Mystery #112, Tales to Astonish #92 and 93, Daredevil #163, Incredible Hulk #300 and #340, Peter Parker: Spider-Man #14; and Hulk vs. Fin Fang Foom #1. Written by Stan Lee, Roger McKenzie, Bill Mantlo, Peter David and Howard Mackie, with pencils by Jack Kirby, Marie Severin, Frank Miller, Sal Buscema, Todd McFarlane, John Romita Jr. and Jor

The Black Cat's ready to give up crime for her Spider-sweetie - but in a gang war between Dr. Octopus and the Owl, good guys can end up hurt...BAD! But Spider-Man's at his fighting best when things look worst - and with his heroine hospitalized, he's readier than ever to clean Doc Ock's clock! Back on her feet, the Cat convinces Spider-Man they can be a crimefighting couple - but are the likes of the Hobgoblin, the Fly, the Cobra and Mr. Hyde too much for her? Unexpectedly, Spider-Man's off to the end of the universe for the Secret Wars - but while the spider's away, the cat will...what? The Spidey/Cat relationship's meltdown begins here! Plus: the Kingpin AND the Blob! Journalistic jeopardy with J. Jonah Jameson! The Punisher gone madder than usual! Secrets from Aunt May's youth, with a rare flashback to Spidey's Uncle Ben! And, yes, the credits said Fred Hembeck! Guest-starring Cloak and Dagger! Also featuring the Fantastic Four and the Avengers! Collects Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #75-96 and Annual #4.

Remember the good old days when Spidey's life wasn't very complicated? When evil scientists like the Jackal sought to destroy him? When Gwen Stacy showed up on his doorstep, suddenly alive? See the original clone saga unravel as Spider-Man tries to keep up!

Captain America as the President of the United States? The Hulk a Microscopic Warlord? Doctor Doom a Hero? Gwen Stacy... alive? Only a few of the dynamic dimensional divergences in the Fourth Volume of Marvel's original alternate earth epics! Featuring the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, the Man-Thing and more! Plus revelations of some of the Marvel Universe's most Eternal secrets! Collects What If? #21-26.

The fifth installment of alternate-Earth action! The Phoenix lived, but the Hulk died! The Avengers take on the world, but Korvac destroys it! Plus: Eternals; Inhumans; and gods, gods, gods! Featuring Daredevil, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.! What If? #27-32

Iron Man stuck in time and Dazzler stuck in space! Elektra lives, Yellowjacket dies! The FF if they never got powers and Nova if he never lost them! Mortals, mutants, and monsters - plus early yet brief resurrections of Phoenix and Captain Marvel, along with many other alternate oddities! All part of Marvel's sixth collection of quantum continuity! Secrets of past, future. and sideways revealed! Featuring Howard the Duck, Obnoxio the Clown, Aunt May, and more! Collects What If? #33-38.